Draining device



July 9,1935. E, B, LETON 2,007,258

DRAINING DEVICE Original Filed July 25, 1954 INVENTOR Edwinfi Suyleion, BY Q Patented July 9, 1935 U ED j STATES DBAINING DEVICE EdwinB. Singleton, Rqckaway, N. J. I

Application July 25, 1934, Serial No. 736,855

Renewed'December 4, 1934 r, q i 14 Claims.

This invention relates to a well point for drain- Yage service or the like. Among themore important objects thereof is to provide a well point of simple and durable construction, which op- '5 ,erate'ssafely and efliciently under widelyvarying conditionsjand in which the shift from jetting to draining is automatically controlled. by a simple and efiectivefvalvel mechanism. Other oo 'jects and advantages in operation will be in part 1 obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

invention, accordingly, consists .in the features of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts asillustratively described herein and as defined in'the"appended claims.

In "the accompanying; drawing in, which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of the mechanical features of my invention,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation, certain parts'thereof being shown in section, v

Figure 2,. a section along the line.2-2 in Fig- ,urej 1,j p

. Figure 3,'a fragmentary elevation of the lower end of the water supply and drain pipe, and

, Figure 4, an elevation of a valve member used n mywell point. I I .As conducive to a clearer exposition of this in- Vention'and its purposes, it is noted that, under favorable geological conditions, the sinking of wells for oil or water or'the predraining of wet ground or excavations is facilitated by driving or jetting with suitable well points moimted on the ends of water supplying and draining pipes into the ground tobe drained. This is effectively ,doneby pumping Water at suitable pressure through the pipes to thewell point and jetting or expelling it with concentrated force at the nozzle or tip of the point. The jetted water in turn dislodges and carries to the. surface sand, silt or, like materials, encountered by the point in'its passage into the earth to the desired depth. After the point has been so advanced, jetting is discontinued and drainage effected by suction ap ,pli ed through the said wellpoint and pipe. The water to be drained or removed is drawn into the pipe through a filtering screen. or the like surroundingthe'intake portion of the well point; and the parts are preferably so arranged and controlled that sand andgravel in adjacent areas are not drawn up with the drained water. v

To provide and maintain eflicient pressure and volume of water at the nozzle for jetting, it is necessary to prevent the diversion or escape of .said water .or pressure through the intake or draining passages and screen elements of the well 'pointi Likewise, to maintain'efiicient and safe draining; i. e., removing water without dislodging adjacent masses of earth, the valve mechanism in the well point must operate effectively to prevent draining through the unscreened jetting orifice or nozzle. a a '5 Well points of known construction have been found to operate unreliably in many instances because of inadequate valve control. Certain types of well points, for example, include an inlet valve intended to open'only during draining and an outletor jet valve intended to open only for jetting. Incases where the outlet valve is of greater cross-sectional area than that of the pipe, and where the moving member of said valve is not properly controlled it frequently" fails to 1 5 seat due to obstruction by sand, pebbles, or the like. Also, when subjected to water under high pressure; valves having separate moving members often chatter or oscillate violently, thus not only disrupting the jetting stream and reducing the effective jetting 'volumeofflwater, but also often damaging or destroyingportions of the valve itself, which if undiscovered permitssa-nd, gravel, etc. to pass directly into thefpipeinstead of through the screen. Also in the-absence of suitable control means related to the,jetjvalve, .its moving member tends to move outof closed position when suction is suspended and there-- after frequently fails to close when suction is rej, sumed. A further object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a well-point having features of construction whereby the above and other undesirable conditions of operation are remediedor avoided. g

' Referring nowto the drawing, awell point"according to my invention comprises a casing l secured tofa supply and drain pipe 2 in any suitable manner, as by interengaging threads, indicated at 3. The casing I is openat its bottom end to provide an orifice or nozzle la through which to discharge a jetting stream. Said casing also has drain-age openings of relatively extended area, indicated at 4 andlying between longitudinally extending ribs 5. r,

The discharge or jetting nozzle opening of the casing l communicateswith the lower end opening 6 of pipeZ; and the lateral or drainage open- ,ings 4 communicate with lateralopenings I in the pipe 2. A screen or other suitable filtering element 8' covers the openings 4, being held in position onthecasing I by anysuitable meanshere shown as annular bands 9.

In operation, it is contemplated that Water under pressure will be forced through the opening 6of pipe 2 and thence through the open end of nozzle la in a jetting stream. This dislodges sand, gravel, silt, or the like from the lower end of said casing and permits the well point to rapidly penetrate the ground which it is desired to drain.

In order to provide effective means for operating the above-described apparatus both as a jetting device and as a draining device, a valve sleeve as i m unted e ativ rfilat n ai openings 6 and'lof the pipe ,;2. T the .form shown; itls a cylindrical casting having lateral openings II in that portion of its wall which normally engages interior portions of the lower end of pipe 2. A partition I2, Figure ;l,,extends across and closes the interior of said cylindrical casting. shoulders ll which limit the extent of upwagni movement of the sleeve It), said shouldersbearing against the lower end of pipe 2 when the parts ape positioned for draining operation, but taking the ,dotted lineposition during jetting operation. {the sleeve .10 also has other lateral openings I 5,below .theopenings H. A lower extension lfioithesleeve -il. rorms a hollow cylinder having opposed longitudinally extending slots I! positioned to engage aguide and stop pin J8 extending transversely across theinteriot of the nozzle la. A spring l9 positioned -in the hollow extension of sleeve I one ,end bearing against said guide pin 18 .and'the other end bearing upwardly against the underside of partition l2, thus tending to hold the sleeve 10 normally in-position to close the jetting or lower opening 6 of pipe 2 and to open the draining openings I of said pipe, theparts then being in the relative positions shown in full lines in Figure 1.

During jetting, the pressure of water supplied through pipe 2 forces sleeve 10 to its lowermost position, indicated by dottedlines, Figure 1. This bringsYthe openings l of said sleeve .IIJ beyond end of pipe 2, so that the supply .of water is released into the jetting nozzle i a and dischargedtherefrom in a concentrated stream. It will be understood that the water pressure employed will be enough to displace the sleeve downwardly against the'counter pressure of spring 19.

When the well .point has penetrated to a. sufficient depth as a resultof the jettingoperation, the water supply is shutoff and sleeve i0 imme- ,diately and automatically moves back into normal or draining position by operation of spring 19, thus closing the jetting orifices before any sucis applied. Thereafter, when the direction of the pump is reversed or suction is otherwise etjfected in pipe 2, drainage will take place through the openings .and in the manner above described.

It will beapp arent from the aforegoing descrip- .tion that during jetting, the openings I of pipe 2 are completely closed, thereby preventing any leakage of water or pressure through the drainage openings. l he positioning of the discharge or jetting openings is such that a concentrated jettlng stream is provided. It will also be apparent that the provision of a valve for automatically closing the jetting orifice before suction begins tends to prevent the admission of Sand, pebbles, or other obstructing materials which might otherwise interfere with the closing or seating of the valve during draining. Obviously, this arrangement for reliably closing the jetting and drainingopenings of pipe 2 produces rnost eifective jetting in relation to the available wa e Pr ss re an m t effective a a d a i w h t e aim e ih od of incompl Annularly arranged -lugs +3 provideseating. Furthermore, with a single movable valve member as sleeve l0 controlling both the jetting and the draining ports of pipe 2, my im-" proved well point construction affords material economies in manufacture, as well as real advantages in operation.

What I claim is:--

1. Draining apparatus comprising a supply an fl a pi hav noatle r 3. .5 2 inlet port, a jetting noz zle connected to ,saidrpipe to receive water under pressure through said outlet port, a screen positioned to prevent the passage of sand or the like into said inlet port, and a valve gleeve slidably arranged in relation to said pipe to close one of said ports when in one position and'the'other of said ports when in another position.

,Apparatus according to claim 1 and wherein means are provided tending normally to maintain said-valve sleeve in position to close said u t nmwm -rn mie rm is open- 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 and where,- in means are provided to limit the extent of sliding movement of said valve sleeve member.

4. Apparatus according to claim land wherein the inlet port is a lateral opening in the wall of said pipe and the outlet port is an end opening in said pipe, and a portion of said valve sleeve is mounted to slide ins'aid pipe to open andclose said ports.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 and wherein said valve sleeve is arranged toopen said outlet port and to close said inlet port when water under pressure is supplied to said pipe.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 and wherein said sleeve is a hollow body having upper and lower openings respectively, said upper opening being positioned to register with said inlet port during draining and said lower opening beingpositioned to register with said-outlet port during jetting. u

7. Draining apparatus comprising a supply and drain pipe havingan open end to provide an outlet port anda lateral opening toprovide aninlet port, a casing secured to said pipe and havin lateral inlet openings communicating with said inlet port of the pipe and a hollow nozzle portion communicating with said outlet port, and a valve sleeve having. a portion slidably engaging said pipe in position to open and close said ports, and yielding means for normally retaining said sleeve in position to close said outlet port.

8. Draining apparatus comprising a supply and drain pipe, an outlet port and an inlet port communicating therewith, a jetting nozzle connected to said outlet port, strainer means positioned to prevent the passage of sand or the like into said inlet port, and a movable valve member arranged to close one of said ports when in one position and the other of said ports when in another position.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 and wherein means are provided tending normally to maintain said valve member in position to close said outlet port while the inlet port is open.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 and wherein means are provided to limit the extentof movement of said valve member.

11. Apparatus according to ,claim 8 and wherein the inlet port includes a laterally exposed opening and the outlet port is an end opening, and said valve member is slidably mounted to open and close said ports.

12. Apparatus according to claim 8, and wherein said valve member is arranged to open said outlet port and to close said inlet port when water under pressure is supplied to said pipe.

13. Apparatus according to claim 8 and wherein said valve member is a hollow body having upper and lower openings respectively, said upper opening being positioned to cooperate with said inlet port during draining and said lower opening being positioned to cooperate with said outlet port during'jetting.

14. Draining apparatus comprising a supply and drain conduit, a jetting and draining head including a jetting nozzle, an outlet port from the conduit to the nozzle, and separate inlet ports for draining, valve means operatively arranged to open said outlet port when in position to close the others, a strainer mounted on said head, and spacing means interposed between the strainer and the inlet ports and arranged to provide strainer protected passageways communicating with said inlet ports and presenting 

